Teen reported missing in January found safe in Hannibal

Wednesday

Jul 2, 2014 at 3:41 PM

A teenager with ties to this area who was reported missing from Texas County a little over five months ago was found safe Tuesday in northeast Missouri.

Paul Hackbarth

A teenager with ties to this area who was reported missing from Texas County a little over five months ago was found safe Tuesday in northeast Missouri.Kylie Marie Long, who was last seen getting into a yellow sports utility vehicle Jan. 28 near Houston, Missouri, was located in Hannibal, Detective Joby Hoops, of the Texas County Sheriff’s Department, confirmed Wednesday afternoon.Cindy Turner, Long’s grandmother, wrote the following post Tuesday night on the Rolla Daily News Facebook page: “Kylie Long has been found safe today (Tuesday). Thanks to everyone who helped get out flyers of her.”“It had a positive outcome,” Hoops said of the case involving the runaway. Hoops said as of Wednesday afternoon, he had not been able to talk to Long directly.According to Hoops, the Texas County Sheriff’s Department received a tip that Long, now 16, was staying at a residence with a man in Knox County. Hoops said from what he understands, an officer with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department went to investigate at the residence, and the man took Long to Hannibal in Marion County and “dumped her at Walmart.”Hoops said the Division of Family Services (DFS) had been contacted about Long being located.Hoops had no other information available as of press time Wednesday night.When Turner was contacted Wednesday, she said that Long was taken to a hospital in the Hannibal area.The Knox County Sheriff’s Department was contacted Wednesday, but no one with the department was available to speak about the incident as of press time.Long is originally from Rolla and had been living in a foster care home in Texas County for some time. Previous to that, she lived with her mother, Amber Malone.Malone said in an April interview with the Rolla Daily News that Long was “having problems with the foster home.”Hoops said in April that the Texas County Sheriff’s Department learned that Long did not return to her foster care home Jan. 28 and was last seen walking away from a school in Houston, Missouri, with another student.According to Hoops, an AMBER Alert was not issued for Long when she first was reported missing because requirements for the alert had not been met.“It didn’t meet the qualifications,” Hoops said. “We had to prove that she was abducted and not a runaway.”